I don't care what people say

"Species, alright. I can dig that." He looked back at her with knit brows. Isaac was never sure of who he might run into in Valhollow. "I’ve been away for what feels like one hundred years, so I think I’ve missed a lot of memos." He chuckled and then felt the heat rise in his face. "This guy I know called me back, said he needed me for something. The whole thing was vague." Isaac shrugged and then looked down at the ground. He truly had no idea what Lachlan wanted from him. He just knew that he owed the man a favor or two, and besides, he was the closest thing to a father Isaac could have.

Zoe raised an eyebrow, a little curious about the fact that he didn't seem to know why he was in the town himself. "Well I suppose it could either be a very good thing or a very bad thing that you've been called here for. Have you tried asking him what it is he needs you for?" Zoe found it a little strange, herself, that someone had been called to Valhallow not long after the humans arrived; in fact she was quite suspicious of anything out of the ordinary lately, especially since most people seemed to be on edge about the slightest thing. She tried to keep herself away from whatever conflict seemed to be brewing as much as possible, but it was hard when it all seemed to be spreading. "I'm Zoe, by the way."

Amber looked over the vampire before her for a moment. Even though she had never had a proper conversation with the woman she still knew who she was. It was hard not to seeing as most people talked about how well she did her job. It brought her some relief that she had asked her and not a human. With a smile on her face she spoke, “Thanks. Though I’m not really running late more like trying to manage my time I guess.” Looking around the street she figured she had plenty of time to kill. “So what are you doing out here? Any where you are headed?” she questioned.

"Manage your time. I see." Zoe smiled and placed the tip of her umbrella on the floor, leaning her hand on it much like it was a walking stick. "Home, actually. Just finished work. My last client was a bit of a pain but she pays well enough so I can hardly turn her away. A lot of my usual clients moved away when the humans came in so I can't really afford to be picky at the moment." She raised an eyebrow and glanced away from the girl for a second, a small frown finding its way onto her face. She shook it away and turned back to Amber, smiling again. "Well if you're not running late, where are you headed?"

Following the vampire from where she stood, Evan looked at the folder that was presented, and almost immediately was out of her league. The clothes all certainly looked beautiful, especially the way they hung on the models or mannequins they were photographed on. Stopping to look through the pieces of fabric, her lips pulled together at the right side of her mouth as she began to examine each of the presented options closer, biting at the inside of her cheek in thought.

Zoe leaned over the desk slightly to see what Evan was pointing at, and then nodded. "Leggings. They're like a midway between pants and tights. Comfy and flexible, but warmed and with more coverage. Usually people wear them with clothes over the top, like shorts in the picture, or a skirt or something." Zoe kept a finger on the page that the leggings were on and flipped forward slightly, finding the page she was looking for and reaching a well-manicured hand into the picture-holder to pull out one of a casual blouse. 

Nikolai paused, looking at her for a long moment, before speaking.  ”Sounds like your maker is what most genie would call an ass.  There are certain laws and traditions that makers are meant to follow so young vampires do not have to go through that, as I’m sure you now know.”  He shook his head in distaste.  ”The variety of supernatural creatures in the world who have no empathy nor kindness makes me sick.”

"Mm, I wasn't aware of it at the time though." Zoe paused for a few seconds and then shook her head. "I don't think about it any more. It was a very long time ago and my maker doesn't mean anything to me now.You're a genie, then? I couldn't quite tell just by looking."

Nikolai looked up at her last comment.  ”Twenty years you missed? What does that mean?  As in you forgot them?  Now that is intriguing…”

"Not...missed, really. When I was turned my maker didn't think it'd be a good idea to stick around and help me with the transition. I took myself out of the world. Just used to stay inside abandoned houses all day and go out to feed at night. It took me twenty years to be able to go out into the world again. It was very different."

He chuckled slightly before nodding.  ”I think it might work like that for a few centuries.  But then the centuries add up and one turns into another and then you can’t remember the yesterday from the tomorrow and it all gets a bit confusing.  Better by far to forget the wisdom and let it all just flow through you.”

"Wisdom turns to insanity, is that how it works? I'll have to watch out for that. Unfortunately I'm still trying to grasp the idea of living forever and and catching up with the twenty or so years I missed."

"Exactly.  Take me for example.  I’m over 900 years and probably less wise than I was when I was 10.  The older you get the more crazed you are, in my opinion.  Or maybe that’s just the way it works with me."

"I would have to disagree, I'd say the older you get the wiser you become. If you learn from experiences. Although I can imagine at some point there will have been a lot of experiences to experience and then you'd just get a bit bored of learning."

"Well they were never exactly the most mature bunch to begin with really… let’s face it.  Put a bunch of supernatural creatures in one place and you get quite a bit of chaos."

"Really? I think we did okay up until recently. Then again most people here are into their hundreds, and the elderly are never very good at changing their ways."

"They disappeared two weeks ago.  Some of the kids decided it would be fun to remove them just as the new bunch of humans arrived, apparently.  Didn’t you hear?"

"Quite obviously not or I wouldn't have been asking the question. Quite frankly I think the humans arriving turned half of this town into children."

"Lots of people don’t like reading and figuring things out on their own. It’s much easier to ask someone who looks like they know the place like the back of their hand, which you do." Sky looked at the woman from beneath the shade of her umbrella, "Somewhat." 

Zoe glanced at the woman who has spoken, obviously another vampire, and tilted her head. "Well I'm glad that the last fifty years of me living here on and off seem to show through."

{Open}

"Species is the word you're looking for," Zoe said, tilting her head. "And unless you've missed the memo about the humans, I don't think you've missed much. Who called you here anyway?"

"Not always." Maxine wasn’t going to get into it with some stranger, but she felt being nearly killed because of one was reason enough. The Werewolf had been out jogging early that morning before the rain came down, so her hair had gotten the best of it, and she ran a hand through it to get it out of her face. "Clever." The Vampire’s attitude, though infuriating, had matched her own, and though not impressed by any standards, Max did know she had a temper, and getting attitude back couldn’t really be given blame. Annoyed looks and sarcasm, sure, but she’d probably attack someone if they had come up to her and began insulting her.

"Whatever. If you feel so strongly about werecats, I'd hate to think how you feel about the humans." Zoe tried to steer the conversation in another direction, bored by the last topic already since she could see she wouldn't get anywhere with the werewolf. The woman seemed stubborn, perhaps even in a way that matched Zoe. She also liked to know how everyone felt about the humans in Valhallow; it was a question she'd been asking nearly everyone since they arrived, out of curiosity more than anything, but also in case any humans would need a warning. She didn't hate them herself and saw it as they'd just gotten the wrong end of the stick -- she doubted many of them would move to Valhallow by choice.

Dagny was persistent. “What does coffee taste like?” She watched Zoe produce a green box with a little white cross on its lid; her first thought was that this was the woman’s lunch box, and momentarily Dagny got excited at the prospect of sandwiches. It was not filled with food, however, and at that she fell disappointed, and slumped back against the chair’s backrest. The stuff inside the box wasn’t as exciting as food, but they still caught Dagny’s attention. She slanted slightly to get a better look inside, only to bump her forehead against the glass of the window at her side. Dag immediately frowned at the thing, and picked up the coffee. 

Zoe continued to ignore the questions about coffee, simply motioning for Dagny to try it instead. She glanced up when the blonde stuck her finger in and pulled it out, saying something in German that she would have guessed to be cursing. "I told you it was hot. Blow on it first. Or wait a bit." She continued to dab the cream across the burn, not at all surprised that Dagny barely moved or made a sound. She found herself wondering just how badly the werewolf had been hurt before then and just how high her pain threshold would go, but Zoe was snapped out of her thoughts when Dagny spoke again. 

Nikolai saw the woman folding her umbrella and silently understood that she was a vampire.  She had darker skin than the normal ones that visited the shop, but it just suited her more.  Every movement held a grace he found at once enticing and irritating.  Vampires were always better at gliding than others.  Her clothes were impeccable as well, but he refused to let himself get distracted.  He said nothing at her words, instead just watching her irritably for a few seconds as she wandered through the shop looking at different plants and plant carriers, until she walked towards one in particular that was actually slightly carniverous.

Zoe had thought the man would leave her alone after she'd stated she was just looking, but he continued to watch her and if she was honest she felt almost offended. In her experience shop clerks only watched customers so closely when they thought something might be stolen, and Zoe had never been the stealing type. She'd never had to be. She also wasn't the type to let anyone else make her feel uncomfortable, and so she decided to block the man out as she continued to look at plants. She'd spotted a particularly vibrant one on the other shelf and moved over to touch it, vaguely hearing a voice behind her but not really registering it. 

"If you honestly think I’d look remotely attractive with a beard then you’re seriously demented. A tattoo on the other hand may be doable." He raised an eyebrow at her offer. "Why the hell would I, a skinny defenseless human, willingly enter a vampire feeding ground?"

"I never said you would look attractive, just that it might make you look older." Zoe shrugged and shifted on her feet, a habit she'd developed that came out around humans from the time she spent out there. Often vampires stood too still or forgot to look they were breathing, and Zoe had often practiced looking at human as possible when outside of Valhallow. "Natural curiosity, I'd think. It's not like anyone's going to grab you and drain all your blood the second you walk through the door."

Stepping through the door, Evan nodded at Zoe, quickly straightening her ragged clothes a little before pulling down the hood. “Sorry… I know I probably look horrid… but I need something to get me back on the path again. Haircut… Clothes… Whatever you think is a good idea to get me on my feet.” She paused, feeling Zoe’s eyes wander her face and open skin upon the bruises that were visible. “They’re gonna go away soon… so no need to account for them when you do…. the stuff you do.”

Zoe surveyed the woman as she spoke, having to bite her tongue and refrain from asking questions. She made a point when it came to work to leave anything personal outside the door, so it wasn't her place to ask, at least not there. She walked back to her desk and motioned for Evan to follow her, sitting down and pulling a few folders out of one of the desk drawers. "Let's just get an idea of the kind of thing you'd like. You said practical and comfortable, if I recall correctly?"